US-BASED Koloma, Inc. has begun exploring for naturally occurring hydrogen within the Philippines and is predicted to speculate as much as $9 million (around P554 million) to advance the country’s first native hydrogen exploration project to the drilling stage by yearend, the Department of Energy (DoE) said.
At a briefing on Monday, Energy Secretary Sharon S. Garin said Koloma has began a 132.6-line-kilometer (line-km) two-dimensional (2D) seismic survey in Pangasinan to map the subsurface and discover prospective areas for native hydrogen exploration.
“By the tip of the 12 months, we’ll see what the potential of hydrogen within the Philippines is, if it has volume or not,” she said.
The 132.6-line-km 2D seismic survey will generate detailed images of underground rock formations to discover areas which will contain naturally occurring hydrogen. The outcomes will guide succeeding exploration activities and improve understanding of the realm’s subsurface geology.
Koloma, a US-based natural hydrogen exploration company, was awarded Service Contract (SC) 83 and SC 84 last 12 months, allowing it to explore greater than 200,000 hectares (ha).
Native hydrogen, also generally known as naturally occurring hydrogen, is hydrogen found beneath the Earth’s surface that might turn into an indigenous energy source if discovered in commercially viable quantities.
Apart from its exploration activities in Pangasinan, Koloma can also be assessing native hydrogen potential in Zambales.
Based on the DoE, initial geological sampling within the Los Fuegos Eternos natural gas seep area in Zambales yielded promising results that warrant further study and exploration.
As of June, Koloma had accomplished 27,976.5 line-km of aerogravity and magnetic surveys to map geological structures in northern Zambales and western Pangasinan.
Energy Undersecretary Alessandro O. Sales said processing the survey data is predicted to take 4 to 6 months.
Constructing on these activities, Mr. Sales said the federal government has also awarded SC 92 to Koloma for hydrogen exploration in western Zambales.
“We’re very hopeful that things will proceed as planned, and we hope that we will likely be lucky enough and be the primary country on the earth to supply from contract naturally occurring hydrogen,” he said. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera